


Follow Me Into The (Suburban) Jungle

by Spellfire01



Series: Second Child, Restless Child [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (not referenced but still important), (who will lay down facts when she needs to), Bucky is recovering slowly, Clint is Ridiculous, Clint wants to adopt every misunderstood super person, Deaf Clint Barton, M/M, Magical companions AU, Natasha is the Best Friend, Not-So-First meetings gone wrong, Other, Shapeshifting creatures, Talking Animals, Tony and his Guardian are over dramatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:06:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14071566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spellfire01/pseuds/Spellfire01
Summary: "Seriously, what kind of assassin has a Guardian called Dixie?" Tony asked from his place lounging on one of the sofas in the common floor of the tower, the rest of the space taken up by his Guardian, a Sumatran Tiger named Belfrey who was currently snoozing for once and snoring lightly with their large, fluffy head happily settled in his lap."The same kind of Guardian who has a Charge named Clint." Natasha replied, shutting one of the fridge doors in the kitchen behind them.





	Follow Me Into The (Suburban) Jungle

**Author's Note:**

> To understand this fic you need to read the first introduction story '1 in every 10,000' otherwise it won't make any sense.
> 
> The series is going to jump around a lot to different scenes in time instead of having a set plot as this is just writing practice for writing my original closed species 'Guardians' in my own stories some day.
> 
> This story in particular is set after the Winter Soldier in an AU where Steve and Sam found Bucky, Wanda managed to get The Asshat high enough into the air that he didn't explode the buildings and Steve vs Tony didn't escalate nearly as much as could have.
> 
> As a side note, I have a tiger teddy from when I was a baby called Belfrey, which is why I named Tony's Guardian that! Special thanks also to my wonderful gf, Sasamy, who helped me decide on the creatures for the characters! Enjoy!

"Seriously, what kind of assassin has a Guardian called Dixie?" Tony asked from his place lounging on one of the sofas in the common floor of the tower (an open space with a living room, games area, huge TV and various consoles, open plan kitchen with constantly stocked fridges and cupboards, separated from the main area by a low wall. After the whole fiasco with having to rebuild the tower, it has slowly but surely helped as a space where the team could...get along with each other, for lack of a better term. It was still a work in progress though, they'd only had two movie nights so far but both had been big hits) the rest of the space taken up by his Guardian, a Sumatran Tiger named Belfrey who was currently snoozing for once and snoring lightly with their large, fluffy head happily settled in his lap.

"The same kind of Guardian who has a Charge named Clint." Natasha replied, shutting one of the fridge doors in the kitchen behind them. Dimitri, taking on their form of a Fossa, balanced effortlessly on her shoulders and munched on something as she made her way over.

Natasha sat down on one of the sofas next to Tony's (her Guardian climbing up to rest on the back of the sofa) to join him in watching Clint - sat on a footstool by the window, a preferred spot of his within the room - throw popcorn a small way across the room while Dixie (a Jackson's Chameleon, something that resembles a lizard crossed with a small triceratops. When it comes to personality though it isn't surprising) darts their tongue out to snap up the snacks.

Tony and Nat's bet to pass the time is currently in Natasha's favor, Dixie hasn't missed a single piece of popcorn from their perch on Clint's shoulder, even the ones he has thrown at two meters despite Tony's distracting. (It was their speciality after all, growing up in a circus and all that jazz.)

A sharp intake of air suddenly sounded from Belfrey as they woke up, their rumbling, feminine voice pushing the words "...Time machine isn't functioning right, Tony, grab me that spanner..." around a massive yawn. They blinked their pale green eyes open a few times before looking around, lip caught over a few of their teeth in a way that made them look a pretty ridiculous.

"Nice of you to join us, Bel." Tony muttered, scrunching his nose from their bad morning breath and pushing their muzzle away lightly, not before unhooking their lip though of course. Pride and all that. They just rolled their eyes at him and got up to stretch, spine and tail arching gracefully.

"What did I miss?" They asked once they were more awake, sitting instead of laying with their head leaning against Tony's.

Tony raised his hand to scratch at the glowing patch of golden fur along their neck and chest idly, the two of them watching Dixie catch yet another popcorn piece. "Ah." Bel noted, looking over at Natasha and Dimitri, putting two and two together easily.

"You're loosing." Dimitri spoke up, slitted, glowing, navy blue pupils looking eerie as they usually did in their current form. They didn't speak often, so when it happened they grabbed everyone's attention near instantly. It wasn't as though they weren't always talking with their Charge though, exchanging looks with Natasha as they read her internal monologue and studied the world around them.

"We'll see about that." Said Tony, unphased.

Dixie still didn't miss though and Clint continued looking smug until the sliding doors of the lift opened with a soft 'whoosh' and Dixie turned and jumped off of his shoulder.

In a flash of blinding lavender they turned into a Honey Badger, teeth bared defensively, claws flexing while standing between Clint and the lift.

They weren't the only Guardian growling, Dixie's mostly drowned out by the threatening snarl of the Wolverine who had strode out of the lift, teeth bared, small ears back, black-brown-white fur wild and unkept. They didn't attack though, not without the Winter Soldier's command and right now, he was standing behind an uncertain looking steve as they entered the room.

It wasn't often that Steve managed to get the assassin - former assassin? - to visit the tower with him. Tony had given them both a floor of the tower if they so chose to stay but Steve was content at his place in Brooklyn and as far as the Winter Soldier and the Asset was concerned, this was enemy ground.

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and the fact that Dixie didn't care much for anything aside from the beings they held dear wasn't helping with the way they were eyeing the Asset's glowing crimson throat.

They looked to Clint after a couple of seconds - he must have called their attention - before they looked back at the wolverine and snorted unhappily, waking over to stand by their Charge's feet.

It was almost a relief when the tiny Rat Terrier (taking a break from their Bald Eagle form they usually take on during visits with the press, SHIELD meetings and other 'Captain America' persona events - although Pearl usually fights with their Irish Elk form due to its defensive and offensive muscle power and gigantic antlers. This though is a form that divides their true self form their duty, their rat terrier form also doing wonders when grounding the Asset with its familiarity) trotted out of the lift from somewhere behind them, Pearl nudging one of the Asset's legs with their slowly wagging tail seemed to snap them out of their defensive stance, the wolverine's strong jaw shutting with an audible click.

"So, you're finally gonna let me take a look at that arm?" Tony asked, eyes bright with the possibility, though not as (literally) bright as Bel's. He stood up from the sofa - Belfry jumped off over the arm of the chair in an over dramatic fashion - and gestured for them to follow him into the lift.

Steve looked at the Winter Solder who only responded by signaling for his Guardian to follow them, Pearl still ever present at their side, so Steve decided to speak up. "Well, Bucky's been thinking about it and..." the rest is cut off by the elevator doors closing behind them all, leaving Nat and Clint alone with their companions.

"That didn't help anything, Dixie." Clint said after a few beats of silence, flopping into the seat Tony had warmed up for him and turning on the TV, his Guardian settling next to him comfortably.

"I thought it was your goal to adopt every broken 'super' being within a ten mile radius" Dimitri added with an unimpressed stare, long tail swinging against the seat from their perch, looking a lot lighter after the whole ordeal.

Clint tossed Nat the remote while waiting for an explanation (who caught it perfectly and turned part of her attention to finding something decent for them to watch. No, not Real Housewives, Clint).

Dixie huffed a laugh at their Charge's suggestion but eventually answered for their actions. "Well, his Guardian was gonna attack first and I ain't putting anyone at risk. Tony may have told us to keep our cool 'round them both but the whole 'superhero adoption center' is Clint's getup, not mine. Sorry dear, but until he can control his Guardian better, I'm keepin' my eyes peeled." Their soft, southern drawl almost didn't suit their form but it was endearing in a way.

"Dixie has a point." Natasha agreed, tone even. "But Clint and Dimitri are right, getting riled up is just going to make their...recoveries harder."

Dixie hummed in response. "Well, right now at least, I don't trust that animal as far as I can throw 'em, brainwashin' experience or not, they were gonna hurt my Charge."

Clint scratched at their head before moving to the lavender patch of their throat, calming them down with a small smile. "But you will."

"I know, hon." Dixie sighed. "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments (especially) and Kudos feed my motivation lampreys and inspire me to write more!
> 
> Feel free to leave prompt ideas for the AU in the comments! It might spark another story!


End file.
